Resistance
by COORAALL
Summary: Being one of the last two Jedi in the Galaxy had its drawbacks. For example, everyone seems to think you're either going to be their savior or they're desperately trying to kill you. Elena doesn't want to be held to that standard, not anymore. But when she joined the Resistance, things just continued to have the habit of not going her way. WILL GO INTO FA.
1. Prelude

**To get myself ready for writing this story, I ended up writing what were supposed to be flashbacks for my character. However, I believe that said flashbacks will be a good intro to a story that starts post Kylo Ren betrayal and pre- Force Awakens.**

The Royal Palace of Theed was filled with the richest and most powerful people in the the New Republic. They had all gathered at the galaxies hub of wealth and prosperity to talk politics and trade; and Elena was hating every second of it.

As her younger sister was a prominent figure in Naboo (the Queen), it was apparently deemed necessary that Elena attend this spectacular event as her sister's special guest. In other words, Aimee Riga Thaliana, her Royal Majesty Queen of Naboo, could not resist the fifteen-year-old urge to make her older sister's life miserable.

Both girls had been sent to the most prestigious academies on their planet in order to prepare them for a future life in politics; but where Aimee thrived, Elena did not. Elena did not have the political mindedness or charm of her younger sister and so gravitated to the more physical aspects of their schooling, engineering and fighting. Lacking the ability to bargain or reason, Elena had often ended up taking matters into her own hands, literally, which often got her in trouble. Thankfully, her parents high standing in society allowed her to remain in school rather than getting expelled.

"I could feel your spitefulness from across the room," a deep, amused voice interrupted her train of thought, "you're not even trying to hide it." Elena huffed not yet looking at the person who had approached her.

"Just wanted to let my sister know how I felt about this whole affair," She responded, glancing at the girl in question who glided around the room with impeccable grace moving from military official, to senator, wooing them with her innate ability to make anyone like her.

Clearly they didn't know her.

"Not very Jedi of you," He commented lightly. This time Elena turned with an eye roll to face her companion. Ben Solo, five years older to her eighteen, the son of the famous rebel leaders General (then Princess) Leia Organa and Captain Han Solo, stood by her side at the edge of the palace ballroom observing the party around them. Wearing all black, in addition to his dark hair and dark brown eyes made him an imposing figure, including the fact he was a giant.

"I'm holding sisterly contempt," Elena scoffed, glancing up at him, "not turning to the dark side." He chuckled, making Elena grin. Yes, Elena ended up being force sensitive, a shock to her family. Once she left with Luke Skywalker to train with the force, she ended up being her Master Jedi's reckoning with her 9-year-old attitude, but Elena felt she had a special bond with him nonetheless "I'm glad you're here," she added, "thank God your family's important enough to be invited to these stupid things."

"Yes, I am so thrilled," he responded dryly, making Elena snicker "at least Master Luke gets to suffer with us." Elena glanced across the room to where Ben's family stood. They were quite a sight, so many of the galaxy's hero's in the form of General Leia, Han Solo, Luke Skywalker and Chewbacca standing and being ogled at. Yes, their Jedi Master was definitely thinking the same thoughts they were.

"That's not a very Jedi thought of you," Elena decided to shoot back with a smirk, making Ben roll his eyes. They stood in silence for a few more moments, observing the mingling or dancing around them as soft orchestra music filled the room.

"You look nice," he commented after a while, making her jump slightly.

"Oh, er thanks," Elena said cursing herself for flushing. She glanced down at her dress, it was a product of her sister's desire, who didn't want to be embarrassed by Elena's Jedi regalia. The dress was a Naboo classic that was apparently to show off the elegance of the planet. A silver choker around her neck held up the dress in the front and it fell down the front of her in a silky waterfall of various shades of blue, there was pretty much nothing on her back and shoulders (which was the main thing that unnerved her about it) as it came together around her waist to create the flowy bottom part of the dress. Her sister had her obnoxiously wavy brown hair done in a thick plait with a metal tiara on her head.

It was gorgeous really, she just disliked in on principle, and because of the stupid look on her face her sister had announcing the outfit to her.

She was pulled from her thoughts when a hand appeared in her field of vision. Ben now stood in front of her the intent clear in his eyes.

"Really?" She groaned.

"They might let us leave if we humor them by being a part of this party," he reasoned. Elena gave him a scathing look which he returned smugly, Ben knew he had won. With a huff, she slapped her hand into his and they both moved to the dance floor. The dancing was simple, as neither of them were super talented at it, but they were also decent at it because of their own fight training, which was kind of like a dance.

What Elena had forgotten in her initial annoyance, was that there was nothing to the back of her dress and so wasn't able to control her flushing reaction when his hand touched her back. Embarrassed, she looked anywhere else but at him. Which honestly wasn't hard considering he was more than a head taller than her.

The more time she spent with him the harder it was to ignore the ever present feelings she had.

Elena Riga really, really, liked Ben Solo.

It had started as a crush, as the older boy had come into her life as her Master's family member, relative of the somewhat infamous Skywalker line and child of two rebellion heroes; on top of that he had a natural affinity for the force which gave her something else to admire. She had willed it to go away as they became friends but as time went on he started showing hints of similar affection towards her. Master Luke never gave any specific rules that Jedi couldn't have attachments, they had just never acted on it before.

They were kind of tragic that way.

Of course, while she was lost in her train of that she forgot both of them were force sensitive and that one of them (Elena) had been doing nothing to shield her conflicted thoughts. It was when they stopped moving that Elena realized and felt exponentially more embarrassed. She glanced up at him and found him staring at her, which if at all possible, made her face more red.

They kind of stayed in that position for a while before he swooped down and kissed her right on the mouth. It took Elena a few shocked seconds to respond before she eventually did, and she had never felt happier or more relieved. Caught up in the moment, she threw herself onto him, blissfully ignorant of the eyes of the Republic's heroes burning into the pair.

 _SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS_

From the moment Luke Skywalker met Elena Riga he knew there was something special about her. She didn't have the personality one would often associate with a Jedi, not that he ever really fit the definition either; Elena was brash, emotional, and forthright, but she was also loyal, generous, dedicated and witty. He admired her desire to learn and achieve, as well as just simply having her around. Luke figured it really shouldn't have been a surprise that her and Ben would gravitate towards each other so quickly after meeting.

Ben came under his tutelage much later than his new peers, but he was also significantly more powerful, and he knew it. The fact he knew it and seemed to have a grasp about the less appropriate side of the force was the reason Leia sent him to learn the ways of the force in the first place. Though Jedi were told to be open minded and accepting, his other apprentices seemed to have a hard time accepting the young Solo, whether it be his heritage or his displays of power.

Much like her peers, Elena found him as competition, but she also found him as someone to admire. From the moment Luke met her he knew she had a great admiration for the old Rebellion and by proxy his friends and himself. Meeting the child of some of her greatest heroes was exciting to her, and finding out that he seemed to inherit some of the "power" made her all that more delighted to work with him.

Ben loved the esteem she seemed to hold him in, especially after getting relatively cold shoulders from the others. Elena had been thirteen at the time they met, but as she reached of age it became clear that he had started to see her in a different light. The look in his eyes was something he'd seen in both his sister and best friend many a time.

Clearly his speculation was now truth as Luke watched the display in the Theed ballroom.

He was concerned though, as open as he was to not using the Jedi rules of the past, it was hard to not worry when Ben had already shown signs of the dark side. Luke however, was wary to give any warning to Ben; much like Elena, he also had a very volatile personality, though mainly when angered, but at least with Ben he knew where it came from. Having been around Han and Leia for many years, it was not hard to compare the child to the parents, and the child seemed to inherit both of the parent's desire to not be told what to do.

As Luke looked at the happy couple embracing one another, he could only hope they knew what they were doing and that they wouldn't hurt themselves in the long run.

 _SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS_

A rock floated up and down in the air methodically, the only sign that anything was controlling the object was the slight movement of Elena's eyes as it continued its pattern. But the rock was only taking up a smidge of her thoughts, the other part of her brain was flooded with concern.

Ben was having nightmares again.

Not that he would tell her what they were about of course, he would just wake up in a panic and when she'd ask he'd say not to worry about it. Because nightmares were a totally normal thing for a force sensitive to have constantly. He'd started becoming increasingly distant as well and angry. Whenever she'd talk to another male Jedi he'd get extremely jealous and tell her off about it, which of course set her off. Though generally the fights never lasted that long, they'd been becoming a more frequent occurrence than they should to be.

Her main issue was whether she should tell Master Luke about it. He probably had a general idea, but probably not to the extent she'd seen or heard, she added thinking about the time she heard the word "Snoke". Elena's logical side told her that Master Luke would be able to help him and lead him away from the worriedly dark path he might be on. Her selfish side however, knew that Master Luke might want her to call off the relationship as he'd warned her in the past, attachment, though not forbidden, is not something to be taken lightly especially with Ben's history.

She just loved him to damn much to let him go.

Elena was ripped from morbid her thoughts when she found herself more than a couple feet in the air.

"Kriffing hell!" She exclaimed, looking around to spot a laughing Ben making her roll her eyes, "yes you're very funny; now let me down!" He did as he asked, making Elena drop rather unceremoniously into his arms.

"Must you do this?" she sighed.

"How can I not, when you react in such a hilarious way?" He asked smirking. With how happy Ben looked at that moment, Elena couldn't bring herself to scold him, especially when he kissed her. He seemed fine then, maybe her and Master Luke were just reading too much into things?

Wouldn't have that been ideal.

 _SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS_

Ben had been gone for months. He had a heated argument with Master Luke then flew off planet in a fury only to never return. Master was sad, her fellow apprentices suspicious and Elena was sick of all of them looking at her in pity.

It never would've lasted. She was only going to get hurt in the end, you know how unstable he was.

Oh, was she so tempted to do the un-Jedi like thing and tell them to shove it up their asses; but she resisted because it's what master wanted, Elena keeping her head in this horrible situation.

Unfortunately, they were more right than Elena would've wanted to admit. While their relationship had its ups, there were a lot of downs to go with it. Ben's ever growing obsession with the dark side being one of them; he often got angry because she just "couldn't see it in the way he did". He also ignored her when she pulled evidence from the past, the past his family had helped put an end to.

The moral of that story is that their fights had escalated past the nightmare skirmishes.

Elena had begged him to listen to his Uncle, she even tried to get him to talk to his parents, which was something she learned to not try again. She didn't know why she kept wanting to help him, when he so clearly wouldn't listen to her.

Love, she guessed. But soon she had started to feel as if that love was one-sided, that his love had moved from her to the dark thoughts in his head.

It was the day before he left where Ben asked her to come away with him, to leave Master Luke and join the "Snoke". When she had told him "absolutely not" that's when he stormed off to Master Luke then off planet to not be heard from again.

Master Luke and General Organa were distraught, and Han Solo had scampered off to who knows where. It hurt to see their pain on top of her own. Elena could tell that Master Luke believed he had failed his nephew; she had felt it from him every day since Ben left.

None of them would ever have guessed that Ben would come back and with a vengeance.

So there Elena kneeled, drenched from the rain, among the bodies of her fellow apprentices and the looming figure of "Kylo Ren" or the the man she once loved among his new friends "The Knights of Ren". He wore a mask, and he had constructed a new lightsaber, it looked hurried and flawed, but it couldn't be a better metaphor for the person holding it.

Kylo Ren stood before him, lightsaber poised to strike and for a minute she considered letting him. Everything was gone, her friends, the Jedi, who knew where Master Luke was, there was nothing left for her now.

But anger got the better of her.

Her lightsaber flashed on as she quickly jumped up to attack him. Of course he'd been ready and parried her attack holding her lightsaber with his.

"I can feel your anger Elena," his voice seemed to growl from behind the mask, " all you need to do is let it in."

"Shut up!" She hissed, knee coming up to hit him in the groin as she swung again. The problem with fighting someone that knows your techniques is that they know how to block them; she hit her first mark which made him grunt, but he blocked her swing and as he was bent towards the ground, swiped her legs out from underneath her.

Elena hit the ground with a groan.

"Join me Elena," Ren asked quietly, holding his lightsaber over her menacingly, "you have the power, it doesn't need to end like this."

"You're going to have to kill me then," She snapped, glaring at him from the ground. For a minute he seemed like he wanted to, but then turned off the lightsaber and stormed back to the other Knights of Ren, gesturing for them to leave.

Elena got up with some difficulty as soon as they left her vision, which wasn't long considering the power of the rain coming down. Looking around her gaze fell upon Jak, a young boy who had just recently joined the line of apprentices, and saw a massive lightsaber made hole in his chest. Elena crawled over to him and shakingly put a hand on his head, brushing his dirty blond hair away from his eyes, and proceeded to close them. It was a horrible knowing that the last feeling those large brown eyes got to show was fear.

Ben, or Kylo Ren now, had done this. He murdered them all, everyone they had trained with, everyone child they were planning on training, the young, the old, all gone. She wanted to hate him, she did. But she couldn't, she just felt numb, disbelieving and mainly sad.

For the first time since Ben left, Elena burst into tears.


	2. A Mission

The Resistance base had been put on high alert. Not for any attack necessarily, but simply a warning for anyone on base to not get in General Leia Organa's way. She had just had a meeting with the New Republic on the capitol planet Hosnian Prime and it had not gone well. Apparently, the New Republic was continuing to not listen to the General's pleas for a formal resistance which was making her furious. First Order assaults were becoming more frequent and more deadly as time continued to pass, and it seemed the New Republic was shying away from the conflict; which was ironic considering that's the reason the _New_ Republic was formed in the first place.

The Knights of Ren had also been making their presence more and more known over the past six years which was only making the General tenser, considering their leader was her son.

Leia's desperation for funding and weaponry is what caused her to approach the young woman she once thought would be her daughter-in-law someday. Their lack of speaking wasn't a choice on her part, she adored Elena and was often reminded of herself whenever they interacted, but Elena threw herself into her new job as a mechanic and the General had become even busier.

Leia knew that she probably should've paid more attention to the grieving girl, and often regretted not doing so, but as the First Orders attacks grew more frequent, so did her duties. Through the grapevine she'd heard about Elena's association with the pilots of the Resistance due to her work on their ships and droid and was rather curious to see how deep her connection to them ran.

Honestly, if anyone needed some friends, it was Elena.

Taking a deep breath as she stood in front of the door to Elena's work shop, Leia knocked lightly before walking in. The young woman was sat in front of an R4 unit whose front panel was off and she appeared to be digging around inside. Her long wavy brown hair was pulled into a half hazard ponytail and she wore a tan tank top and cargo pants, the picture of the mechanic she had made herself into.

"Hard at work I see," Leia greeted, walking up to a desk behind the R4 unit and leaned against it.

"Some people just can't let go of the classics," Elena sighed, yanking on a part in the droid which made it bleep loudly in protest, "sorry," she muttered before putting a similar but cleaner piece into the droid and shutting the front panel. The droid bleeped a thank you before rolling out of the room.

"What can I help you with General?" Elena asked, getting up from her spot on the floor and starting to put away her tools. Leia sighed at the formal response but continued on anyways:

"I need your help," She replied, making Elena snort.

"Despite the Old Jedi Claims, I'm no negotiator, what do you need me for?" She asked incredulously.

"Well, your Jedi skills would be ideal," Leia retorted, "but since I'm not getting that, I need your connections to the Naboo," she added once she saw Elena's jaw clench.

"You're one of the famous heroes of the Rebellion, surely you don't need _me_ ," Elena argued, flopping onto her desk chair.

"Surely you know that Naboo is rather unwilling to join in any further conflict considering their…history." That was an understatement, when your choices in political figures end up causing the end of a democratic society you tend to be a little warier on galactic decisions.

"What does this have to do with me?"

"A few of their own are fighting a loosing cause, I'm sure they'd be willing to spare supplies," Leia pushed, walking towards Elena.

"The few Nabooians on this planet aren't worth the potential wrath of the First Order, _I'm_ not worth it," Elena argued back.

"Does your sister know that?" Leia asked quietly. A silence fell between the two as the crux of the matter came to light, and Elena was not pleased about the turn of events.

"You want me to emotionally black mail my sister," Elena said more like a statement rather than a question, "that's not very heroic of you."

"I'm desperate Elena, we _need_ help," Leia responded with a pleading tone. Oh yes, Elena knew they were slowly running out of options in regards to the fight against the First Order, everyone did, but hearing it from the legendary general, the woman who still kept her around even after the tragedies of their past, made her decide to disregard her morals this one time.

"I'll do it," she announced, standing up from her chair to face the General, "I'll hate every second but I'll do it." Leia grasped her shoulders and squeezed, looking her dead in the eyes.

"The Resistance thanks you."

 _SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS_

"Alright, _this_ I didn't sign up for General," Elena exclaimed, angrily following the general as they walked into the D'Qar control center.

"For the last time its _Leia,_ Elena," Leia sighed rolling her eyes at the furious girl behind her.

"I don't need an escort to my home planet," Elena continued, moving around to in front of the General.

"You know as well as I do that the First Order is tightening its grip on the Galaxy, thus making most space travel dangerous, especially for you," Leia shot back, "you are aware that the First Order knows exactly who and what you are?" Elena huffed.

"I'm aware," she hissed through gritted teeth.

"Therefore, I am not letting you go alone, end of story."

" But does it have to be him?" Elena all but whined, "doesn't he have better things to do?"

"Better than protecting one of the last _two_ Jedi in the galaxy? I think not," Leia scoffed, making Elena roll her eyes.

"Honestly must you bring that up all the time?" She asked with a sigh.

"Until it stops working, yes," Leia replied walking around Elena and continuing toward a control panel where a wary commander stood watching the pair.

"Commander Dameron was more than happy to take on the job," she continued, turning to face Elena as they reached their destination.

"I'm sure," Elena grumbled, crossing her arms across her chest.

"What was that?" Leia asked amused.

"Fine, whatever, I'll go prepare," she sighed, turning to move out of the center, leaving a confused Commander and smug Leia behind.

 _SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS_

As usual the outdoor ship bay of the Resistance Base was bustling with activity. As there were so few ships for the type of missions Resistance pilots had to do, there always seemed to be people working on them or flying them out. Elena herself was making her way towards one of the tandem x-wings that had been given to them by a sympathetic senator of the New Republic.

As Elena threw her bag into the backseat of the fighter, she heard a few chipper beeps and a whirring sound approach her.

"Hey BB-8, ready to go on another mission?" She asked grinning. BB-8 responded by spinning its lower half in a circle and beeping excitedly making her chuckle, "where's Poe at?"

"Why, miss me already?" The person in question asked jokingly making Elena's smile fall and her to roll her eyes as she turned to face him. Poe Dameron, despite her own qualms with him, was a handsome man, not super tall, tan skin, brown hair, brown eyes, strong jawline; he had ditched the orange jump suit she had seen him come back from a mission in for his patented leather jacket which only added to his look.

Not that she cared.

"Oh yes, my poor fragile heart could not beat without you in my presence," she replied with no small level of sarcasm, which made him chuckle.

"So you can make her laugh but I can't BB-8? I'm almost jealous," he commented to the small droid which beeped almost smugly making them both snort.

"Ready Dameron?" Elena asked beginning to climb into the ship and put on her helmet.

"You know you can call me by my first name right?" He shot back, as he hopped into the pilot's seat. Elena could hear from behind her BB-8 being pulled up into the ship.

"I'm aware," she replied, with a slight smirk as she heard him sigh from the front. With that, he started up the engines and they set off towards her home.

 _SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS_

As they flew toward Naboo, Elena remembered why she didn't really like flying; because it gave her time to think. Fortunately, she was able to push aside her more depressing, grieving thoughts and move on to the man sitting in front of her.

Elena knew she shouldn't be as rude to him as she had been, he'd only ever been nice to her, joke with her, try and make her happy. He didn't even seem to be scared off by her snarky remarks, which both annoyed and pleased her. She had little in the way of great experience in the "friend" department, don't even get her started about how crap she was in the "more-than-friend" area; seeing as all her friends had been murdered by said "more-than-friend" or ex more aptly.

Dameron had made it clear that he was gunning more for the latter rather than the former. There was really no real reason why she shouldn't, despite all the crap she gave him, she still liked him, who didn't? The man was charismatic, an excellent pilot, and a committed and well respected member of the Resistance.

Elena had met him when he brought BB-8 in for service. At first he'd seemed arrogant, exclaiming about the difficult mission they just completed successfully and about how incredible his droid was (though admittedly BB-8 was well made). But it wasn't arrogance, he was just legitimately happy and proud that he and his team succeeded in finishing the missions and honestly adored BB-8.

Throughout her time training as a Jedi, she'd never met someone with a personality like Poe. It was new to her, as well as his attention. In her prior relationship (even her thoughts wanted to skirt around the name), Elena had never had this much attention paid to her; Poe always went out of his way to visit her and want to know how she was doing, if he needed to grab a tool while on a mission, and one time, if she wanted him to go with her to visit the Jedi Memorial.

It was new and scary so Elena resisted in the only way she knew how, dry humor and sarcasm. Not that he seemed to mind, just responded back in kind with his never ending charm.

Honestly Poe made things so difficult.

"You alright back there? I mean I know you're quiet, but I thought I'd lost you for a second," Poe chimed in through his helmet comm, interrupting Elena's thoughts.

"What? Oh, I'm fine," she replied a lot less smoothly than she wanted.

"So you mind telling me why I'm escorting you on a "diplomatic" mission to your home planet? Since when did you do those?" Poe asked incredulously, and honestly Elena was not even offended with the surprise in his tone, she was just as confused.

"The General didn't tell you?"

"Only that you're getting help for the Resistance, but why is it you that has to go?" He questioned, that's when Elena knew that Leia didn't tell him about her close relationship to the the royalty which made her smirk.

This could be fun.

"You'll see," she replied, making her sure her tone purposely leading.

"Seriously?" He groaned and Elena couldn't hold back a chuckle. At least there could be some relief in the crappy situation she was thrust in.


	3. Naboo

Elena often forgot about how beautiful her home planet was until she saw it again. Flying into Theed was breathtaking; the massive palace, giant water falls, beautiful landscape, she briefly wondered why she ever left.

Oh right, to become a Jedi, which had ended _so_ well.

Even Poe seemed speechless, or at least that's what she thought considering Elena couldn't actually see him, just hear his silence. She offhandedly wondered who would be there to greet them, it probably wouldn't be a large party, maybe one of Aimee's handmaidens.

The landing was smooth, and once all of them got out Elena finally saw the look of awe on Poe's face as he looked out from the hanger towards the Naboo skyline.

"I take it you've never been to Naboo before?" Elena asked teasingly.

"Uh no, I've heard about it, but clearly just hearing doesn't do it justice," he replied, looking around the area "even this hanger is incredible!" he added making Elena snort.

"Well it is the capitol, you don't think we aren't going to show off the best of our planet here?" Poe didn't even seem to hear her, just started looking at the Nabooian starships which made Elena roll her eyes fondly.

"Lieutenant Riga, pardon my intrusion," a voice greeted from behind her, Elena turned and was surprised to see Governor Darven approach her with a gaggle of guards. He was a tall and thick man, a very imposing figure to say the least. He was much respected among the Naboo for his efforts against the Empire, and it was no surprise when the vote for him to become governor was almost unanimous. Elena bowed quickly in response to his greeting, nudging Poe to do the same once he turned around as well.

"Governor, I'm surprised to see you here!" Elena exclaimed.

"Your arrival is a much talked about one Lieutenant, it was not hard to guess what you are here to discuss," he explained, making Elena tense. She should've guessed they'd know why she returned to Naboo, she wasn't exactly a hidden member of the Resistance. "Because of the nature of this meeting, the Queen has recommended that you remain within the castle boundaries as to not inspire any… questions, from anyone in the city. As long as you remain within the castle walls, we can pull this off as a familial visit," From his tone, Elena could already tell that the conversation with her sister was not going to go well if she was already wary about Elena's presence on the planet.

"That won't be a problem Governor," she responded, looking at Poe who shrugged.

"Wonderful! Now if you would like I can escort you to the Queen, she is currently not in any meetings and I'm sure she'll be pleased to see you," Governor Darven continued cheerfully, as if he didn't just hint at Elena threatening the security of their planet.

"Lead the way," she replied, the governor then escorted them to a shuttle that would take them to the palace entrance and Elena braced herself to once again see her sister after three years.

SSSSSSSSSSS

"So why would the Queen be so pleased to see you? And since when do you know royalty?" Poe asked as they walked through the castle behind the governor and his posse. Poe had been quiet on the shuttle ride and had apparently finally decided to question her about the conversation in the hanger.

"We both know royalty Poe," Elena reminded him smirking, glancing down at BB-8 as the droid rolled beside her and even it seemed to be glancing around and observing the grandeur, much like Poe was when not rolling his eyes at her comment.

"I don't know _Naboo_ royalty," he shot back.

"Well I know her because I grew up with her," she explained, making his eyebrows raise exponentially, "she's my sister."

"So that's why the General sent you, because you know her personally," he clarified and Elena nodded.

"She's banking on familial bonds helping us out, but I haven't seen her in five years so I don't know how well this is going to go. There's also the matter of potentially getting grief from the First Order, hence us not going out in public and passing this off as me visiting family."

"You don't think she's going to listen?"

"I'm sure she'll want to help, but Aimee has to think about the planet first and I can't say that I blame her." Any further conversation was halted when they reached the throne room door and Elena took a deep breath before walking through the doors in front of her, Poe and BB-8.

Aimee was as beautiful as always, even under the heavy makeup. The large dress was red and black and she wore an ornate headdress over her brown hair that looked in no way comfortable, as was custom for the Queen to wear. Her posture was excellent though; Aimee exuded a confident, indifferent air that showcased her now sixth year on the throne and the middle of her second term. Her handmaidens were sat around them, in almost a circle around the Queen's throne area, which if you knew what they were capable of, was actually rather intimidating.

"Your Majesty, I present to you Lieutenant Elena Riga and Commander Poe Dameron," The governor announced, Elena noted that he seemed to neglect saying what they were Lieutenant and Commander _of._

"Your Majesty," the two greeted in unison, bowing.

"Governor, I would like the room emptied of everyone except our two guests and my handmaidens," Aimee ordered calmly, as if she didn't imagine that would cause a ruckus.

"Y-your Majesty-" The Governor sputtered indignantly while the guards looked around confused as if they didn't know who's orders to follow.

"We've already spoke of this matter Governor, I will tell them our answer, now I would like to be alone with my sister," She continued, a bite now noticeable in her tone. Elena definitely didn't like the sound of that and exchanged a worried glance with Poe.

"Y-yes, of course Your Majesty," Governor Darven relented and gestured for his and the Queen's extra guards to walk out of the throne room with him.

"Look at you, you've got all of them wrapped around your finger," Elena teased, once the group had left the room. While she was talking, Aimee had stood up from the throne to approach Elena and once she did, promptly slapped her, making Poe jump.

"OW!" Elena exclaimed holding a hand to her face, "what the hell?" Aimee's handmaidens immediately moved to the alert as soon as Elena shouted and she had to admire their timeliness.

"Three months! Three months Elena! That's how long our parents and I had to wait before we figured out whether you were even alive after the massacre!" Aimee yelled, "then you didn't even come see us, just stayed with your little resistance."

"Aimee…" Elena started.

"I mean, I know it must've been terrible, I can't even imagine," she continued now sounding choked up, "but that's what family is for right? Home? Or did you forget about us on your mystical Jedi adventure."

"Aimee, I'm so sorry, I know that wouldn't even begin to cut it but-"

"You're right, it doesn't," she interrupted stiffly, and they stood in silence for a few moments before she continued. "now you've decided to come back with a request haven't you? Let's move onto that."

"Aimee- "

"In regards to our help, I am afraid Naboo cannot give it," she explained, "with rumors of the powerful new First Order weapon, I'm afraid I can't risk the safety of our people for the Resistance." Aimee began moving towards the door, and her handmaidens immediately followed suit. One of the handmaidens bumped into Elena and paper was shoved into her hand.

"Wait, what-?"

"You are welcome to stay for as long as you need, our parents will arrive for dinner within the next few hours, so you can see them then," Aimee continued, before pausing at the door, "I am sorry I couldn't give you better news, but I'm afraid this is how it is going to be." With that they exited the room and the door shut behind them leaving the room.

Elena shell shocked and paper griped tight in her right hand, just stared silently at the door; BB-8 rolled up in front of her and gave a mournful beep while a hand softly went to her shoulder.

"Look Elena- "

"Shh," she hissed, clenching the paper tighter.

"Excuse me?" He asked incredulously.

"Come on," she ordered, grabbing him by the hand and dragging him out of the throne room, BB-8 quickly following behind them.

"Would you please explain to me what the hell is going on?" Poe hissed, as she dragged him into what appeared to be a dimly lit closet, allowing BB-8 to roll in before shutting the door.

"What Aimee said to us was a lie," Elena explained in a hushed tone.

"She seemed pretty honest to me," Poe retorted.

"Oh no, the yelling at me? That she meant. What I was talking about was when she wouldn't help."

"How do you know that?" Elena quickly handed him the paper.

"10th floor, royal chambers, after dinner?" He read surprised, "did she think the room was bugged or something?"

"Just because Naboo is trying to atone for its past doesn't mean we still don't have problems."

"You think she'll help?" Poe asked.

"I guess, I don't know how though, it seems she doesn't have the support of the rest of her court."

"So we wait until after dinner," Poe clarified.

"So we wait."


	4. The Plan

Dinner went about as well as Elena expected, which was not well at all. To Aimee's great pleasure, reuniting with their parents had been a tearful and guilt-ridden experience. Elena didn't want to explain that she'd thought the collapse of the New Jedi Order had been her fault, that the shame of not being able to protect her friends had influenced her to stay away from the others she held dear, lest she failed them too. They'd also tell her it was alright, that they didn't care about what she did, that they would love her no matter what. And that's not what she wanted to hear, she wanted to handle her own failures, and not be coddled into a false sense of security.

As Elena figured, her parents loved Poe. Her mother fell instantly in love with him the minute he introduced himself, and her dad got to have his childish fill of talking about starships. The dreaded topic of their relationship also came up as both her and Poe awkwardly stuttered through the negatives. Her mother was none to subtle about hinting for the opposite.

In all, Elena was happy to see her parents again, but it was hard to deal with the barrage of emotions coming from them, especially when she and her sister were both taught to control them, though granted, in different ways. It also didn't help that the most visible emotion on Aimee's face was smug.

After a tearful goodbye from her parents, with her mother all but threatening her to come visit again, Aimee retired to her room and Elena waited a while before following. She'd told Poe to stay behind because one, it might look a little suspicious to those in the castle, two, Elena wanted to have a private conversation with her sister, one not interrupted by formalities or political etiquette.

Elena quickly walked into the room Aimee said she was in and shut the door behind her. The suite was incredible, massive and ornately decorated with all the styles of Naboo. The room had a large window facing the castle gardens where Elena was sure that if it wasn't nighttime, would give the room an open feel.

"You made sure you were discreet?" Aimee asked disregarding all greetings. Elena rolled her eyes and looked at her sister, who was free of the ceremonial makeup and wearing a nightgown.

"Yes, Aimee," Elena huffed.

"Do you even realize the gravity of what I'm doing right now?"

" _No,_ because you haven't told me anything; though I figure you plan on helping me based on the nature of this meeting and I thank you for it."

"I am going to help you," Aimee announced, "you drive me up the wall sometimes, but I hate The First Order as much as you do, and just because I don't have the council's approval doesn't mean I can't do something to help."

"What _can_ you do exactly?" Elena questioned incredulously.

"Despite the national decision to be peaceful, there are many on Naboo who are against The First Order, and thankfully some of them work in manufacturing, I can get you the things you need, the problem is getting them _to_ you," Aimee explained, "so I have hired a smuggler-"

"Wait-what?"

"and he can bring the goods to Lothal, where you will be able to pick them up," Aimee continued, ignoring the interruption.

"You hired a _smuggler_?"

"Honestly Elena, do keep up."

"Yes great, thank you for the help, but Elena you're _Queen,_ what if you're caught?"

"Some things are worth the risk," Aimee replied quietly. A long silence fell between the two of them as they stared at one another.

"I'm sorry I didn't come home," Elena uttered in the same quiet tone.

"And I'm sorry I yelled at you, though you did kind of deserve it." Both girls chuckled at that. It was soon after another silence that they both moved in for a hug.

"I missed you 'Lena," Aimee sniffled into Elena's shoulder.

"Right back at you," Elena choked out, her nickname being the emotional breaking point. They both stayed like that for a while, taking advantage of the fact they were no longer fighting.

"So, I suppose we should talk about your secret plan with greater detail am I right?" Elena asked grinning widely at her sister.

"I suppose," Aimee relented rolling her eyes and looking amused. Aimee moved towards a desk where she picked up a small hard drive, "this drive holds all the credits that it cost to transport the goods, try not to loose it."

"Where is the faith?" Elena scoffed, plucking the item from her sister's hand.

"You will meet the smuggler on Lothal, the drive also contains the coordinates which were sent to me for the drop off," Aimee continued to inform, sounding very much like the Queen she was, "You will have weapons, medical supplies and some food delivered to you. I wish it could be more but that's the most I can give."

"Aimee, the fact you are helping at all is greatly appreciated," Elena assured, Aimee gave with a soft smile.

"Do be careful," Aimee pleaded, "and try to come home sometimes."

"I promise."

 _SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS_

"So, Lothal huh?" Poe inquired as they flew to their destination. The pair had met up with the resistance in deep space to exchange the X-Wing for a shuttle that would be able to transport the cargo back to base.

"I know, interesting meeting place but unlike during the Empire, Lothal has fallen off the map to the First Order," Elena explained, "I'd say it's safe."

"Let's hope," Poe sighed, as they began to enter atmosphere, "I appreciate your Jedi talents and all, but us against a starship are a bit too skewed of odds for me."

"Have you been talking to 3PO?" Elena teased, glancing at Poe in the pilot's seat. According to General Organa, that protocol droid is decades old and had always been as snooty and fearful as it was presently. She had to admire the patience of Master Luke and his family, hearing that droid whine for just five minutes was enough to drive her insane.

"Ha. Ha," he scoffed, there was silence in the cockpit for a while before he spoke again, "so your family seems nice."

"They liked you a lot," Elena informed, "I could just tell, they were never that excited about- "She stopped abruptly; Elena hadn't had these many thoughts about Kylo Ren in a long time. It seemed that going home to the place where it all started had started bringing back all the memories she had tried desperately to forget.

"Elena…" Poe reached across the control panel to grab her hand.

"It's fine. I just-" Elena took a deep breath, "it's fine, uh lets just land."

As usual, the landing was a smooth process due to Poe's incredible talent in piloting. They landed in a rocky ridge with a large valley; large enough for two ships, but also containing an appropriate amount of cover. The smuggler didn't seem to be there yet, so Poe and Elena were forced to wait.

Once both were out of their seats, Elena was abruptly pulled into Poe's chest. Frozen in shock, she just stood there stiff in his arms for a couple seconds.

"Uh Poe-?"

"Seemed like you needed it, just roll with it alright?" He responded, not letting go.

Elena wasn't going to lie, she wasn't hating the feeling, and within a few more moments she hugged him back, clinging a lot harder than was probably needed. The moment was interrupted by the sound of another ship approaching, and so the both of them walked out to greet the person bringing the cargo.

It was a large, red ship that was landing in front of them, one that Elena didn't recognize, so she was a little wary. Elena hand drifted to the blaster on her thigh and saw Poe doing a similar action with his.

The gangway before them slowly opened and Elena could spot two forms, one large the other normal height. It didn't take her long to put two and two together.

"Oh, you have _got_ to be kidding me."


	5. The Smuggler

**Last chapter before FA story! :)**

 **SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS**

Of course the smuggler would be Han Solo; the universe just seemed to have something against her. So not only would this mission be a journey into reuniting with her childhood, but also with her most recent past.

After his sons decent into madness, Han Solo had made himself scarce in regards to the Resistance and went on his merry way doing what he did best: swindling and smuggling. For Elena, it wasn't as much anger for him leaving when things got tough- it was the fact that he was able too and didn't feel entitled to stay and fix the problem like she did.

She was a little jealous.

Han also seemed to trigger the bad memories that Leia somehow never did. It was like looking at him reminded her of what she had lost. Elena felt sort of guilty about it, but it wasn't like Han didn't have his own contribution in helping his son loose it.

When Elena met Han Solo through Ben, it was clear that were some serious issues between the two men. Whenever the two had been around each other while she was there, they always seemed tense and had never acted that close. When Elena had asked Ben about it, he hinted at his father not being around a lot of the time.

Which made Hans prompt departure not as surprising.

Leia had never really seemed bothered by her husband's constant disappearances, like she expected it. But Ben clearly took it personally, and Elena had often felt there was a lack of communication between the small family. She also wondered if Ben's descent could've been stopped if the three just talked to one another.

Guess all of them had a hand in the shit-storm that had become "Kylo Ren", Elena thought dryly.

Chewie gave a roar of excitement when he saw her and pulled her into a tight hug, making Elena cough at the force of it.

"Nice- to see you too, Chewie," Elena choked, "can't. breathe." He chortled out an apology before moving on to Poe, whose hand he shook quite dramatically. "Poe, this is Chewbacca. Chewie, Poe."

"I'm aware," Poe responded, looking a little star struck, "nice to meet you." Chewie gave a pleased growl in response. It was then when Elena noticed Han, hanging around awkwardly in the back.

"Hey kid, should've figured it would be you doing the pickup, considering who made the call," Han greeted, shoving his hands into his pockets. From what Elena had noticed throughout the years, is that despite the fact he aged, the style of Han Solo never really changed; he just sometimes exchanged the clothes for newer versions of the same thing: a leather jacket, belt, pants, boots and a white shirt.

"Yes, apparently my sister is all about giving _just_ enough information," she responded dryly, making a mental note to ream her sister for this.

"Who're you?" Han asked looking at Poe, and moving forward to greet him. Poe - with a little more speed than necessary- quickly moved to shake his hand. It was then when Elena remembered how he idolized the heroes of the New Republic, making her smile.

"Poe Dameron, sir," he replied.

"The Resistances best pilot, eh? Heard quite a bit about you," Han said, looking a bit impressed. Poe just kind of blinked in shock at the acknowledgement which made her smile become a full blown grin. Clapping Poe on the the shoulder, Han turned back to his ships gangway and gestured for them to follow him in.

"You've got quite a bit of cargo to squeeze onto your shuttle, but I'm sure we'll be able to make it work," Han explained, gesturing to the large amount of crates in front of him. Elena was pleased, it seemed her sister had pulled through. She then glanced at Han, weighing whether to suggest something or not.

"I mean, you could always help us bring it back, I'm sure the General wouldn't mind," she offered, trying to sound nonchalant. Her response caused a silence to spread across the group, "I'm just saying."

"Sorry kid, not today." Chewie growled something to Han, which made caused him to glare at the Wookiee. "Whose side are you on?" he exclaimed angrily, walking to one of the crates and angrily turning the grav boost on before pushing the crate out of the ship, grumbling all the while. The three remaining in the ship just looked at each other and Chewie shrugged before following his friend, causing Poe and Elena to do the same.

After a little bit Elena ran ahead to catch up with Han, who side.

"I know what you're going to say-"

"What? That Leia misses you and you'd probably be an incredible help to the Resistance?" Elena cut in, making Han raise an eyebrow, "because it's all true."

"Doesn't mean I'm going back," He retorted, walking a little faster, making Elena have to jog a bit to catch up.

"You and Leia, honestly, Ben never stood a-" Elena stopped herself wincing, Han halted tense. Elena had seemed to accidently bring up the large elephant in the room.

"Han- I-"

"It's fine kid, it's not your fault," he sighed, turning to look at her; the way he said it made it seem like there was a double meaning behind his words. Elena sighed, looking down at the ground.

"I should've told someone-"

"And I should've been there." Elena looked up at him shocked, "we all made mistakes, it's not anyone's fault alone." They both stood there, reminiscing on events of the past, not noticing that both Poe and Chewbacca were observing them from a distance. Han then put a hand on Elena's back and pushed her back towards the ship.

"Come on, we need to get your stuff on the shuttle," He ordered with his usual vigor, making Elena smile to herself. It didn't take them that much longer to pile everything on; it was a bit tight, but there was still enough space for both Elena and Poe to clamber through the boxes to get to the cockpit.

"Thanks for your help," Elena said as her and Poe walked with the pair back to their ship, "This couldn't have been accomplished without you."

"Sweetheart, you know as well as I do that Chewie and I are getting paid for this," Han scoffed, waving off her gratitude.

"I also know that you took about half of what was offered to you by the Queen of Naboo," Elena retorted, with a smirk. Han halted and glared at Chewie as he chortled.

"Yea-well…" Han had trailed off and began walking at a brisker pace, not really knowing what else to say; Elena and Poe exchanged an amused glance. As they reached the ship Chewie swept Elena up in another breathtaking hug before nodding at her companion and climbing onto the ship. Poe then shook hands with Han before excusing himself to go prep their own ship for take off.

"Good to see you again, Elena," Han said, clapping his hand on her shoulder.

"Back at you," She responded with a slight chuckle, Han did the same as he looked at a space behind Elena.

"Give the guy a chance will you?" He stated randomly making Elena flummoxed before she turned and saw what-or rather who, Han was looking at.

"Oh, for the love of-"

"I'm just saying," Han interrupted her potential tirade, "you've got interesting choices in men kid, though some might consider your pilot an improvement."

"The other one was your son!" Elena exclaimed.

"I know. That's why I said it," Han scoffed, making Elena torn between feeling amused at the admission or saddened.

"I-I don't know," Elena muttered, crossing her arms in front of her chest. The last person she'd been expecting to talk about this with was Han, but it seemed that despite his complaints, the older man was more like his significant other than he liked to admit.

"Well think on it then; as a victim of a woman confused with her feelings, I figure he's going to want to know your stance soon," Han advised, making Elena roll her eyes.

" _Alright_ , oh wise relationship expert," she retorted, making Han sigh and turn onto the ship gangway waving his hands in the air as a sign of surrender. Before bringing the ramp back up, he turned around one last time while shutting the door:

"See you around kid." The shuttle soon lifted into the air and flew off and Elena jogged back to her own ship, making her way to the copilot's seat. Poe was currently talking to base which gave her some time to reflect.

Seeing Han again hadn't been as terrible as Elena had imagined it would be. Though tragedy had struck him, it didn't seem to affect him as much as it might most people; he was still the same gruff smuggler Elena had known for most of her adolescent to adult life, though mentions of his lost son did bring a certain grief to his eyes. And though it wasn't a long talk, mentioning out loud the events of the past with someone just as involved had been therapeutic for her. Han had also given her some other things to think about.

Now having spent more time with Poe on a one on one basis, she was forced to acknowledge that yes, feelings were there; the problem was whether she could act on it. Though the time since her last relationship had hit the five-year mark, everything still felt raw. The betrayal, the loss of not only the relationship, but about fifty of her peers, was still on the forefront of her mind. Elena knew she wasn't ready for anything serious just yet, as much as her heart was begging for the opposite, Poe would just have to wait a little longer if he was willing.

"Ready to go?" said man asked, making Elena jump slightly in her seat.

"Yeah, let's go home."


	6. Jakku

If there was one ecosystem Elena hated, it was the desert. Unfortunately for her, the planet her next mission was on happened to be _entirely_ desert. Even though her and Poe arrived on Jakku at night, you could still tell; what with the bitter cold that most deserts seemed to have at night and the dryness.

Heaving a sigh, and wrapping her brown cloak tightly around her resistance uniform, Elena followed Poe as he led the way to their informant's tent in the small Jakku village. Poe had just sent BB-8 away to keep watch for them and seemed amused to find his companion annoyed with their location. Elena was from a planet with a very temperate climate, which was why visiting a planet with such harsh conditions set her on edge. However, the pull of the mission was just too great and the hope that maybe she could find Master Skywalker was enough to get her to ignore the climate, for the most part.

"Don't worry, we're just getting the map and then we're leaving," Poe informed, smirking at her. Poe didn't seem to have a problem with the climate, then again he always seemed to adapt to wherever they were; climate, culture, he took everything with stride which added to her ire.

"I'm aware," she huffed, rolling her eyes, he laughed and threw his arm around her shoulders guiding her into a tent.

To Elena's surprise, their informant happened to be Lor San Tekka, an old friend of Master Luke's. She'd never met him, but Elena had heard of him a little bit from Ben and Master Luke. Apparently, he had helped her old master recover all the information about the Jedi that the Empire had tried so desperately to erase. The friendship between the two men lead to no surprise that the older man would have a clue to her missing Master's whereabouts.

"Lor San Tekka, it's an honor to meet you," Poe greeted, shaking the mans hand. Elena quickly stepped forward to do the same thing and found herself under the keen gaze of the old man. If there was one thing Elena didn't like, it was when someone looked like they were staring into your soul, that they knew all your secrets. An unfortunate issue to have when surrounded by older people, as that's all they ever seemed to do.

"It's an honor to meet you to Commander, and you Jedi Riga," Tekka responded, making Elena flinched at the title.

"I-I wouldn't say I'm a _Jedi,_ sir. I never exactly finished my training," Elena pointed out, a little half heartedly.

"My mistake," he conceded, not sounding like he meant it, "now to give you what you came for, so you both can get out of here quickly." The older man moved to a table and picked up a small drawstring bag, before grabbing Poe's hand and placing the item into it. "I have traveled to far and seen too much to ignore the despair in the galaxy. Without the Jedi, there can be no balance in the force," Tekka explained, closing Poe's palm and glancing at Elena, who tensed at his unspoken implication as he looked at her.

"Well now because of you we have a chance," Poe commended, also glancing at Elena, "the General has been after this for a long time."

"The General?" Tekka asked amused, "to me she's royalty." Elena chuckled, imagining the reaction that Leia would have upon hearing that, Poe seemed to be of the same thought as he did the same thing.

"Well she certainly is that-" A loud twittering noise broke into the room as Elena and Poe both shot around to face a frantic BB-8. The pair looked at each other in fear, before running outside.

Poe immediately looked through binoculars to check to see if BB-8 was right, but Elena already knew, she could feel it.

"Oh, you have _got_ to be kidding me," she moaned in annoyance, voicing what she imagined everyone was thinking. The lights in the distance had quickly become actual ships as First Order shuttles approached the small village.

"We've got company," Poe agreed before turning to Tekka, "you have to hide."

"You both have to leave," he ordered, and noticed that they hesitated. "Go!" Poe nodded to BB-8 and Elena and the trio set off towards their ship.

Unfortunately, the arrival and disembarking of the First Order happened a lot quicker than they hoped and a battle started quickly around them.

"Come on BB-8, hurry!" Poe shouted, picking up his already fast pace and Elena strained to catch up, BB-8 trailing a little behind. Dodging blaster shots, they soon made their way to the ship, climbing in quickly. However, their departure was halted by a shot that rocked the ship and BB-8 started beeping frantically about the people behind them.

"I see 'em. Elena!"

"Got it!" Elena quickly started up their weapons system and shot down the storm troopers behind them. After seeing Poe climb out, Elena quickly followed suit, and soon found out that their engine was busted.

"What do we do?" She asked frantically, but Poe had already kneeled down and taken the map out of the small bag before placing it into the small droid next to him.

"You get as far away from here as you can, alright?" Poe ordered BB-8, who immediately bleeped back its dissent, "Elena go with him."

"What!?"

"You are just as important as that map," He responded quickly, "The Resistance needs you."

"Says their best pilot!" She scoffed, crossing her arms in a huff.

"Says the Jedi," he shot back, and a quick silence spread between them.

"I'm not leaving you," she declared and when he opened his mouth to argue, added "we don't have time for this- BB-8, we'll come back for you alright?" The droid quickly looked between the two of them before bleeping out an agreement, Elena grabbed Poe's hand and dragged him away.

"You'll be alright!" Poe shouted back towards the droid, grabbing a blaster from the ground, Elena did the same with the next one they came across, "you're stubborn, you know that?"

"Shut up and shoot," she retorted, but with a smirk on her face as they began to shoot down the troopers.

The loud sound of another ship approaching brought the pairs eyes to the sky, and Elena was immediately filled with dread; she knew exactly who was on that ship. In unison, both Elena and Poe crouched behind the cement block they'd been using as a shield.

"I should've gone with BB-8," she admitted quietly, Poe looked at her in shock.

"Not that this isn't an astounding proclamation but why-"he stopped his jesting when he saw the fear on her face and glanced over their cover to see who was leaving the ship, and immediately saw the problem. "There's still time…"

"No."

"Elena…" He frowned at her as she stared unseeingly into the darkness in front of them before she quickly turned to face him, "what are you-?" Before he had a chance to finish, she grabbed him by his collar and kissed him. Frozen, Poe didn't respond for a minute but before he could, she broke away. Unbeknownst to him, she used his momentary distraction to halt him in his place with the force.

"Probably not the best time and I'm sorry," She whispered before pulling up the hood of the cloak she was wearing and quickly moving into the shadows.

"Elena! Dammit-"Poe hissed, when he realized he couldn't move and was forced to stay in his position as Elena crept into the crowd that had been rounded up. She didn't know what she hoped to accomplish, but she thought that if things started to go south, which was likely, she might be able to get a few people away from the bloodbath.

As soon as Elena snuck into the fray, she saw Kylo Ren approach and begin interrogating Lor San Tekka. He looked just as intimidating as the last time she'd seen him, the mask really adding to the whole effect, but before she could ponder anymore Ren quickly sliced through Tekka with his saber.

Shock and anger raged through her which ended up being a big mistake; most of her energy was trying to keep Poe in his place, so Elena wasn't able to hide her emotions and there was someone who was attune to reading them not twenty feet from her. Realizing her mishap, she turned and tried to move as quickly as possible away from the group without being noticed.

Suddenly, Elena wasn't able to move forward at all and she shut her eyes in distress as she realized the problem; she'd been stopped by the force. She heard the people around her move quickly out of the way and tensed. Elena felt herself be quickly turned around and was met with the looming figure of Kylo Ren. He seemed to hesitate before quickly reaching out and yanking the hood from her head and through the force she could feel his surprise. Not wanting to outwardly show the fear she felt (which Elena was sure he noticed), she attempted to glare at him.

"Of course they'd send you," he drawled, Ren then paused and seemed to be observing something "you're using the Force, why?"

"I'm not telling you anything," She growled, and struggled to break away from his hold before her efforts were hindered even more by the fact she suddenly couldn't breathe. He was force choking her. Coughing, Elena's eyes widened, but as her hands were kind of literally tied, couldn't attempt to do something about.

"You will. Soon enough." Suddenly, Elena's vision went dark and she felt herself hit the sandy ground.


	7. Kylo Ren

Elena was forcefully awakened by a push in her mind and shot up quickly. She had been lying on a metal bench in what was clearly a cell and from the drab colors, she assumed she was on a First Order cruiser. As she glanced around she spotted her captor.

"What no torture chair?" she asked dryly, raising a brow in his direction. He remained silent which made Elena roll her eyes, "well aren't you chatty?" It was rather unnerving when you couldn't see the emotions on the face of the person who captured you. She was having a hard time believing that a person she had once known so well was actually behind the dark mask in front of her.

"You've weakened," He stated, which made her tense, "you're not as strong in the force as you used to be."

"Yes, well. Shit happened," she retorted glaring at him, "most of which caused by you." She stood up, which caused Kylo Ren to do the same. He had positioned himself in front of the door which Elena thought was rather unnecessary; she wasn't an idiot. Elena saw the lightsaber on his waist and would be staying right were she was.

"I joined a better cause, you could've as well," he responded, irritation dripping into his tone.

"Yes, genocide. What a great cause."

"So angry, I guess it's no surprise why you stopped practicing using the force," Ren drawled, "in regards to your first question, the other cell currently is currently occupied, which is why you are in here."

"What poor sap do you have in there?"

"A resistance pilot, as I was surprised to find out," he answered and deliberately paused afterwards to gauge her reaction; Elena had frozen in shock.

"What?"

"Yes, he seemed very distraught when you were knocked out and was more than willing to retaliate when the force you were using on him lifted," He explained moving closer as he spoke, making Elena back up almost instantaneously, "he is being questioned as we speak."

"Leave him alone!" She hissed, making Ren pause.

"You care for him," he stated, his previous superior tone now sounding emotionless, "and he clearly holds you in high regard."

"See in the Resistance we don't work based on fear, we all, for the most part, like each other," Elena huffed, sidestepping his obvious implication.

"You don't feel the same way," he pondered sounding surprised, making her annoyed and embarrassed. Even back when he wasn't "Kylo Ren" he'd always had the annoying ability to read her.

"Are you serious? Are we really talking about this?" She exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air. Suddenly, he moved forward to the point where he was barely a couple inches away from her and Elena backed into the wall behind her, face heating up and breath increasing speed, "Um, please move."

"Interesting," he muttered, "even after everything I've done…" Annoyed, with both Ren and herself, she shoved him before walking a little bit away.

"Things like that just don't go away quickly," she spat, "regardless of how hard I tried."

"You still love me."

"No, not you," She retorted, "the person you used to be." There was a silence that spread across the room and Elena tensed for whatever was to come. However, whatever way Elena was expecting him to react, taking off his mask had certainly not been one of them. She heard the clicking and hissing sound and spun around to face the now fully visible Kylo Ren.

He hadn't changed much, which was honestly worse. Elena would rather have had his image to reflect all the things he'd done, rather than look as how he did five years previously. The only noticeable change was that he looked a little tired.

"The fact your face is the same doesn't change anything," She informed him, crossing her arms in front of her chest, "it's who you've work for, what you've _done._ "

"You wouldn't understand- "

"What. The desire to murder? You'd be surprised," Elena interrupted with a sneer. Instead of getting mad at her, as she expected, he seemed to look conflicted.

"The Supreme Leader has taught me many things-"

"Snoke? The person you used to talk about in your sleep?" She interjected, "the hell has he been telling you?"

"That I can balance the light and dark side of the force."

"Balance? Ben, at what point have any-" She was stopped mid-sentence when he shoved her against the wall. She at first wondered why, but then she realized her mistake.

"That's not my name," he all but growled at her, his emotions having switched from confused to angered in a split second.

"It was once," Elena replied, refusing to look away as he glared down at her. Elena was surprised to find that he'd been this conflicted; she'd always assumed Snoke had just made him do a complete transformation, never realizing that Ben had held so much doubt and fear. "It doesn't have to be like this," she pleaded, heart pounding as she wondered if what she was attempting could possibly work, "we can figure this out _together,_ walk away from the First Order, from Snoke and _come with me._ You know he's going to drop you the second you're done being useful, it's what the dark side does." The rage had melted away and he was back to being confused, staring down at her with fear in his eyes.

"I-I don't-"

" _I love you,"_ Elena added, surprising not only Ben, but herself, "for some reason, even after everything you've done, I still do." This revelation explained a lot, like the fact that she just couldn't seem to move on. Did it make her a horrible person? He did murder all their fellow Jedi students. But she couldn't deny it with Ben hovering and staring down at her intently.

Suddenly he closed the distance and began kissing her, Elena was shocked at first but soon realized how much she actually wanted this. By this point, Ben had stopped pinning her against the wall and wrapped his arms around her in a much less threatening way and she took advantage of the freedom by twisting her fingers into his hair, pulling him closer.

She started to feel a change though, especially since Ben was now broadcasting through the force in his distraction. He was uncertain, then shocked and then he became angry. Ben broke away abruptly and then suddenly she couldn't breathe again.

" _You,_ you were trying to trick me," he hissed, holding his hand up as an indicator of a force choke.

"No-I was-baring my heart and soul for-kicks," she tried to snap through her lack of air, very confused and disheartened at this abrupt turn of events, "I'm-trying to _help_."

"I don't need your help," he growled, eyes flashing and all the uncertainty and fear he had, gone. "The Supreme Leader was right; you are trying to hold me back from my true potential." He dropped her unceremoniously on the floor and Elena began gasping to try and recover air, "you will not turn me back."

"Ben-"

"Enough!" He shouted, igniting his lightsaber and pointing it at her, making Elena crawl back quickly.

"We've been down this road before," she reminded him sadly, nodding at the weapon in front of her, "either kill me or get out of here. I guess I was just being naïve thinking I could help you; you're to far gone." It seemed that this attempt on appealing to his morality had no effect on him. Ben just stared at her coldly before switching off the lightsaber and storming out of the room, grabbing and putting his helmet back on as he went.

Once he was gone, Elena used the metal bed to help her get up so she could sit on it. For a second she thought she'd succeeded, that Ben would listen to her pleas, but something was clearly wrong with him. He seemed fine one second, then off the rails the next leading her to further confirm that the dark side and his growing power was affecting him in more ways than just decision making, it was messing with his head. Elena was sure Snoke was only helping his mental instability, thriving off his confusion, fear, and anger; which made her hate the faceless villain even more.

Guilt coursed through her as she realized she essentially made out with her friends' murderer. Then there was the question of the Resistance pilot in one of the other cells. Elena dropped her head into the hands that had been resting on her knees; she'd now kissed two people over the course of the day and her guilt increased tenfold. Seeing Ben had only confirmed what she should've expected, that she still retained feelings for him.

But he wasn't just Ben anymore, he was also Kylo Ren, a murderer, so seduced by the dark side that even the appeal of someone he once loved couldn't break him away from it. She wanted to help him, after seeing his uncertainty, and she would continue to do so, but she also needed to figure out her feelings. Any relationship she pursued with Ben now would be filled with uncertainty, doubt and even dangerous. Regardless of what her heart was trying to tell her, her head was also convincing her to be smart.

There was a safer option. One that wouldn't be tainted by the Force or by power; it would be normal. Well, as normal as an ex-Jedi apprentice and Resistance Pilot _could_ be. She cared for him, as he so obviously did for her. Was it love yet on her end? Not really. It could be though, if she let herself do it.

Ben had tried and succeeded in hurting her-physically- on more than one occasion in his rage. Sure, he'd felt uncertainty and even kissed her, but he didn't seem to return the feelings beyond attraction. He was too consumed by the darkness. She still wanted to help him, as he'd been tricked, but was now doubting a return to the way things were in the past.

Though confusion was still there, some of the haze was beginning to clear. Elena hoped that by the time this whole capturing ordeal was over she'd figure it out.

After all, Han did tell her not to leave Poe hanging.


	8. Escape

By the way time passed, Elena figured a day had gone by since she had any interaction with her captors; bar someone throwing food at her, at least they were nice enough to not let her starve. This unfortunately had given her a lot of time to stew and worry.

Was Poe ok? How was BB-8 faring in the desert? Not to mention the fact her and Poe all but failed their mission, especially if they couldn't get off this stupid ship. For the first time in a couple years, Elena decided to meditate or, attempt to at least. She'd never been very good at it even when she had been training. She'd figured it was the best way to try and focus instead of panicking and worry about everything going on around her, maybe even find an escape route.

She knew she couldn't use the force to open the door, she just wasn't strong enough. If Elena could some how convince whomever was standing outside her cell door that they needed to come in, she'd probably be able to incapacitate them. Then she'd probably have to wing it in regards to getting Poe out.

Unfortunately, it seemed fate had other plans as a storm trooper walked into the room. Said trooper didn't say anything and just kind of stood there, nervousness spilling off him in waves.

"Can I help you?" She asked dryly, opening one eye to look at him. Even his posture looked skittish, as it seemed that he wanted to be anywhere but in that cell.

"What are you doing?" He blurted out, this time both her eyes opened in incredulity.

"I was meditating," she responded, "that a crime?"

"I-uh,"he stammered, looking around before getting a tighter grip on his weapon. "Get up. We're leaving."

"And where are we going?" Elena questioned, purely just so she could see how long she could mess with him. She wasn't going to go overboard with someone holding a gun.

"Just move!" He ordered a little strained, pointing his gun at her hesitantly as if he didn't really want to use it.

"Fine. Fine," She relented, hopping up from her position on the floor and meandering towards the door. The storm trooper seemed to be in an awful hurry as he all but shoved her down the corridor once she had finally walked past him.

He stopped her at another door which opened in front of them, and she was met with the sight of a trooper guard and an exhausted looking Poe; who's head had lifted up slightly at the sound of the doors opening. He gave her a half hearted and guilty smile, which automatically worried her. Eyes widening, she glanced at the trooper next to her as he stepped forward.

"Ren wants the prisoners," He ordered, sounding much more confident than he had been when speaking with her. As Elena gasped a quiet breath, the trooper removed the restraints around Poe's wrists and shoved him forward; he stumbled, but quickly regained his footing and walked confidently up to the trooper. Their escort, pushed him in front next to Elena and with gun in hand, guided them forward.

Unable to risk talking to Poe as they walked, Elena settled for glancing at him to observe his injuries. Physically, it had been clear that the chair he'd been strapped too was used as seen by the blood on his head. His mental state, however, was what was concerning Elena. He seemed a little sluggish and the exhaustion she noticed originally was not from any physical torture, but that of the mental kind.

Kylo Ren had questioned him.

This would explain the mental strain and the guilty look on his face. Kylo Ren had questioned him and got what he wanted. Elena couldn't possibly blame him, if one doesn't know that much about the Force how could they possibly protect themselves from it?

"In here," the trooper ordered, pushing them into an alcove, promptly pulling Elena from her thoughts.

"Listen if you do exactly what I say, I can get you both out of here," The trooper informed the pair quickly, pulling off his helmet to reveal a dark, sweaty and frantic face.

"Huh?" "The hell?" Both Poe and Elena exclaimed respectively.

"Can you fly a TIE fighter?" He continued, ignoring both comments and addressing Poe.

"Are you with the Resistance?" Poe asked confused, making Elena shoot him an incredulous look.

"Really-?"

"What? No! This is a rescue; can you fly a TIE fighter?" He repeated, interrupting any exclamation Elena might've had. Confused beyond belief, Elena wondered why this guy was deciding to help them. She was pretty sure storm troopers were trained to obey, not try and help prisoners escape. The kid was twitchy, and clearly green which was not something she'd seen in a trooper before. He seemed just as excited to get off this ship as they were, leading her to confirm her thoughts of the kid not being your run of the muck storm trooper.

"I can fly anything," Poe replied, grinning at their strange luck, "Why are you doing this?" The trooper paused for a second, but long enough for Elena to notice.

"Because it's the right thing to do."

He was immediately met with two looks of disbelief and a snort from Elena.

"You need a pilot," Poe stated, raising a brow.

"I need a pilot," The trooper conceded, realizing the two in front of him weren't going to take his bullshit.

"We're gonna do this," Poe declared, now looking boyishly excited which made the trooper react almost the same way.

"Yeah?" He breathed eyes widening as he stared at the pilot in front of him.

"Uh yes, sorry to interrupt the moment here," Elena drawled, making both men shoot to attention, "but in case you haven't realized, there's three of us, and two seats in a TIE."

"You know how to fly," Poe stated, looking at Elena questioningly.

"Yeah, but not take on an imperial cruiser good. On top of that I won't have a gunner," she explained, the minute Poe opened his mouth she continued "and I'm not taking the trooper, even if he's a fantastic shot, my flying won't help him at all." Poe rubbed his temples, desperately trying to come up with a plan, "We also can't use Comms unless we want the First Order to know where we're going." Elena gave him a look after that last part and he sighed, nodding his head. It seemed that without actually speaking the location, they knew where they were supposed to go. To BB-8 and the map.

"Alright, when we get in the TIES, you book it the hell away from this ship while he and I try to draw their fire. After that we'll meet up with you." Elena nodded, glancing at the trooper who had raised both eyebrows in response to their previous cryptic exchange.

"Let's do this."

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Already not pleased with the turn of events, though escape kind of trumped any annoyance she might've had, looking frustrated as she walked through the landing bay wasn't hard. Having not been conscious the first time she was brought through here, the massive of monochrome soldiers and Imperial craft was daunting. It took all her strength to not gape at the sights around her.

"Stay calm. Stay calm," The trooper was muttering as a mantra behind them, very tensely holding his weapon.

"I am calm," Poe responded, looking as tense as Elena felt.

"I was talking to myself," he hissed back, making Elena almost roll her eyes. Of all the people to rescue them, why'd it have to be the universe's most skittish storm trooper?

They walked a little farther, passing by a platoon of soldiers with hilariously large black helmets, before the trooper nudged the pair of them, turning them towards the TIE fighters to their left. Poe and the trooper ran up the stairs to the first one, while Elena went a little farther to climb into the second one.

The controls were similar to the X-Wing and since she wasn't planning on doing anything fancy, she stuck with the things she knew. Of course while she was working on getting the ship moving, Poe had begun to fly forward, then was promptly stuck on the fuel line.

"Oh you've got the be kidding," She groaned, as she finished up and lifted her ship into the air. According to her scans, there was _not_ a fuel line attached to her ship, and so she promptly flew out of there. Not well however, as she jolted quite hard trying to gain control of the wiley ship.

"Kriffing hell," Elena breathed, "what do they do to these things?" Her screen started beeping and saw what Poe's TIE finally fly out of the ship. The tie shook as the cruiser started firing and a shot grazed her hull. She swore loudly.

Elena circled back to what she hoped was a respectful distance. Soon, no shots came at all and she figured Poe and the trooper must've taken out one of the cannons. The little TIE on her scanners was now circling around to approach Elena, unfortunately it was not alone as blue cannons sailed toward the now approaching TIE and herself. Turning the ship quickly, Elena began to lead the way to Jakku only to see Poe and the troopers TIE come spinning past her as it was clearly hit.

"No!" She shouted, but since she was distracted by her companions being hit, she didn't notice one of the cannons coming for her.

The shot was a direct hit and Elena too, went plummeting to the planet's surface.


End file.
